Design forming device



1957 M. s. PEARCE ET'AL 2,807,859

DESIGN FORMING DEVICE Filed Jan. 14, 1955 FIG. 3

WVEVTORS BEN PEARCE A TTORNEV M/M/ S. PEARCE Ratented Oct. 1, 1957 DESIGN FORMING DEVICE Mimi S. Pearce and Ben Pearce, New York, N. Y.

Application January 14, 1955, Serial No. 481,812

2 Claims. (Cl. 28-2) This invention relates to devices to aid in the fabrication of petal-like, flower, or other designs formed by weaving, Winding, or otherwise threading yarns, wool, thread, or strands of similar material.

Woven floral patterns are frequently employed as designs on sweaters, dresses, and like articles. They are also often sewn or crocheted together to form bedcovers, antimacassars, pillow covers, etc. Such articles are generally made by hand by an individual, rather than by machine or by a manufacturer of these articles. The individual forming these designs is desirous of being able to'make a large variety of such petals or flowers, of diiferent sizes and shapes, utilizing a minimum number of devices and in the most expeditious manner.

Priorly devices have been available which utilize, basically, two components, a fiat forming plate or disc and a plurality of fingers which extend out beyond the forming disc. The petal design is formed by winding the yarn over the front flat surface of the disc and then around the extending fingers. The fingers have in some prior devices been retractably attached to the disc; in other devices they have been supported by a separate plate. Further the fingers may be resilient or not.

Generally the size of the petal being formed has been determined solely by the size of the forming disc, as the fingers have been directly adjacent the forming disc. In

some devices however, the size of the flower or petal being formed has been determined by the spacing between the finger plate and the forming disc. This latter arrangement however is disadvantageous as it requires the user to wind the yarn in two planes removed from each other whereas if the fingers are directly adjacent the forming disc, the user is working essentially in a single plane. This greatly facilitates the threading or winding of the design.

The priorly known devices have been unsatisfactory for a number of reasons, of which two are paramount. When the fingers are directly adjacent the forming disc, which is the preferred arrangement as discussed above, the disc size alone determines the size of the design being wound. Accordingly these devices have been limited to a single size requiring the user to acquire a number of such devices in order to form flower designs of different sizes. Further in the prior devices the forming disc has been fiat. After the design has been wound on the device, the yarn, wool, or other material extends tightly over the forming disc and onto several of the fingers. Before the design thus woven is removed from the device, the center portion of the design should be sewn together so that the design retains its shape after being removed from the device. This is done by weaving or sewing more thread or yarn at the center of the design; the thread or yarn chosen may be the same as that of which the petal itself is formed or may advantageously be of a different color or texture. This weaving or sewing is done with the aid of a needle to which the yarn is attached, the needle being threaded under the central portion of the design and between it and the flat forrnchangeable parts.

the stem.

ing disc. However, in prior devices when the petal design has been formed it has been very diflicult for the user to thread the needle, to which the yarn is attached, under the central portion of the design to sew that portion together.

A general object of this invention is to provide an improved device for forming petal or flower designs of wool, yarn, or similar strand-like material.

Another object of this invention is to facilitate the threading of the weaving needle around the central portion of the design to sew the center of the design together.

A further object of this invention is to enable a single device to be employed for the forming of designs of a wide variety of sizes.

These and other objects of this invention are attained in one specific embodiment comprising a stem having an enlarged base or knob at one end and a hollow threaded portion at the other end. A forming disc has a small threaded screw depending axially therefrom which mates in the threaded portion of the stem. In accordance with an aspect of this invention the forming disc is dished or concave to allow the needle readily to be Woven through and around an existing floral pattern or part thereof.

Slidably located on the stem is a hollow sleeve having the forming fingers situated at one end of the sleeve and a small disc attached to the other end. The fingers are of suflicient length to extend beyond the edge of the forming disc when the sleeve is positioned at the top of the sleeve directly adjacent the forming disc. The sleeve is preferably just long enough to accommodate the users fingers.

It is a feature of this invention that the device comprise a minimum number of parts which arereadily interchangeable so that a user may utilize a single device for a number of sizes merely by changing'the size of the forming disc. Thus it is a feature of this invention that the device comprise only three parts, a single stem, a sleeve slidable on the stern and removable therefrom, the sleeve including the forming fingers, and the forming disc removably attached to the stem. Specifically the forming disc may have an axially located screw on its lowest surface for insertion into a threaded portion of the stem.

It is a further feature of this invention that the forming disc have a concave or dished surface to facilitate the threading of the needle through the wound or woven design formed on the forming disc and particularly to thread the needle through the center portion of the design to enable the design to retain its form after removal from the device.

These and other features of this invention may be readily understood from consideration of the following detailed description together with the attached drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one specific illustrative embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the embodiment of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the embodiment of Fig. 1 showing a partially completed floral design.

Referring now to the drawing, the specific illustrative embodiment depicted therein com-prises only three inter- These parts are a stem 10, a forming disc 11, and a sleeve-member 12. The disc 11 has a concave or dished upper surface 14, in accordance with one aspect of this invention, the concavity being shown exaggerated for purposes of description of this invention.

The stem 10 has an end knob or support 15 at the base end thereof. The knob 15 need only be large enough to prevent the sleeve 12 from sliding off the lower end of Advantageously the surface of the knob 15 is curved and smooth to rest easily and comfortably on the users finger when the device is being used, as discussed further below. The stem 10, which may advantageously be a hollow shaft or metal tube to reduce the overall weight of the device, has an internally threaded portion 16, best seen in Fig. 3, at its opposite or upper end, in accordance with another general aspect of this invention. A screw member 18, best seen in Fig. 3, mates in the threaded portion of the stem 16 and positions the forming disc onto the stem.

The sleeve member 12 is free to slide on the stem between the forming disc 11 and the base knob 15. Attached to the upper end of the sleeve member 12 are the petal or design forming fingers which are formed integrally with a finger plate 21. These fingers are advantageously of a flexible and resilient material such as a thin sheet of a metal, of cellulose acetate, or similar well known materials. At the lower end of the sleeve 12 is a small disc 23. The distance between the finger plate 21 and the disc 23 along the sleeve is advantageously just sufiicient to accommodate the users fingers. It is apparent that as the sleeve member 12 is free to slide along the stem 10 without restraint, it may readily be removed from the stem when the forming disc 11 is not attached to the stem 10.

When the design forming device is to be used, a forming disc 11 of the proper size, for the design to be fabricated is chosen together with a sleeve member 12 having a finger plate 21 with fingers 20 which will extend slightly beyond the periphery of the disc 11. The sleeve 12 thus chosen is slipped onto the stem 10 and the threaded portion 18 of the chosen disc 11 is screwed into the threaded portion 16 of the stem 10 to complete the assembling of the device. Assuming the user to be right handed and thus to prefer-to hold the yarn in his right hand, the thumb and forefinger of the left hand hold the portion of the sleeve 12 between the finger plate 21 and the small disc 23, and the forming disc 11 is allowed to rest directly on top of the finger plate 21 so that the fingers 20 are directly adjacent the forming disc 11. In this way the fingers 20 are essentially in the same plane as the forming disc 11 and may be considered, for present purposes, merely to be extensions of the forming disc itself.

The user can now wind or thread the desired pattern around the extending fingers 20 in the usual way well known in the art. This will generally comprise hand winding strands 26 of the material being woven across the form disc 11, as radially from a finger to a more tightly wound section at the center of the disc, diagonally across the disc 11, and also threading the material circumferentially between fingers 20. One specific design is shown. incomplete, in Fig. 4. While the weavingof the design itself is advantageously done by hand, without employing a needle or similar element, when the flower or petal design is finished, it is customary to sew the central portion of the design together by means of a needle to enable the design to retain its distinctive shape and appearance after it is removed from the device. Because of the dished or concave surface 14 of the forming disc 11, the threading of the needle, not shown, over the surface of the disc at this point and around the woven design is greatly facilitated even though at the center of the disc the design is the thickest. In prior devices the passage of a needle under the design and between the design and the surface of the disc 11 to sew the center of the design together has been annoyingly ditficult for the user, and especially so for very small sizes of designs. However, in accordance with an aspect of this invention, the surface is symmetrically dished so as to be deepest at the center of the disc to facilitate the passage of the needle under the design at this point.

When the design has been completed and sewn together as discussed above, the finished flower can readily be removed by resting the knob 15 on the users fourth finger and pushing the stem 10 up through the sleeve 12. This withdraws the flexible fingers 20 from the design, which then can easily fall free of the forming device.

If it is next desired to form a different size design, the priorly used forming disc may be removed and a different size disc placed on the stem. The fingers 20 should extend beyond the periphery of the forming disc 11 by at least a quarter inch to enable them to hold in place the yarn that is wound around them by the user. The size forming disc 11 that may be employed with a particular set of fingers 20 is therefore determined, at one extreme, by the length of the fingers themselves, and at the other extreme by the diameter of the finger plate 21 to which the fingers 20 are integrally attached. We have found that it is not practical to make the finger plate 21 too small to accommodate smaller sizes of forming plates 11 with a single set of fingers 20 as the fingers 20, if too long, have insuflicient strength, tending to break easily. In one specific embodiment of this invention in which the distance between the tips of diametrically opposed fingers 20 was 2% inches and the diameter of the finger plate 21 was approximately /2 inch, three forming plates 11 were interchangeably attached to the single stem 10, as by being in threaded engagement therewith; the forming plates were 1 inch, 1 /2 inch and 2 inches in diameter, enabling the user easily to weave three pattern designs of different sizes. Further in this specific embodiment of the invention the finger plate was slidably removable from the single stem 10 and a second finger plate provided, the second finger plate having fingers 20 integrally attached thereto, the distance between the tips of diametrically opposed fingers being 4 inches. A second set of three forming discs 11 were provided to be interchangeably attached to the single stem 10, the discs being of 3 /2, 3 and 2% inches diameter.

It is therefore apparent that a person utilizing a design forming device in accordance with this invention can be given one device including a single stem 10, a pair of sleeves 12 with different size finger plates 21 and fingers 20, and six different forming discs 11, which can be interchangeably attached to the single stem, as by being in threaded engagement therewith, and may easily form woven pattern designs of six ditlerent sizes. We have found that being able to weave or wind designs of different sizes at gradations of a half-inch is generally sutficient. However, it is to be understood that, if desired, further forming discs 11 of intermediate diameters could be provided for employment in the practice of this invention. Further it is to be understood that each such forming disc 11 is cupped or dished so as to have a concave upper surface to facilitate the passage of a needle under the central portion of the design after the basic floral or petal pattern has been woven onto the forming disc and extending fingers.

While a specific embodiment of this invention has been described, it isto be understood that the principles and application of this invention are not to be considered as limited thereto. Various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for forming designs comprising a stem having a support member at one end thereof, a forming disc removably attached to the other end of said stem, said forming disc having a concave upper surface, and a sleeve member slidably positioned on said stern and adapted to be removed from said stem when said disc is not attached to said stem, said sleeve member, including a finger plate at one end of said sleeve member, a plurality of resilient fingers attached to said finger plate, said fingers extending beyond the periphery of said forming disc, and a small disc at the other end of said sleeve member.

2. A device for forming designs comprising a stem having a knob at one end thereof and being threaded at the other end thereof, a forming disc, a threaded member axially secured to the underside of said forming disc and mating with the threaded portion of said stem removably to attach said disc to said stem, said forming disc having a concave upper surface, said concavity being deepest at the center of the disc and smoothly varying to the edges thereof, and a sleeve member slidably positioned on said stem and adapted to be removed from said stern when said disc is not attached to said stem, said sleeve member including a finger plate at one end thereof, a

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Dolia Aug. 18, 1931 Ciroli et al. Sept. 30, 1952 

